It is that time of year when hundreds of thousands of people in tornado alley and the southeast start thinking about emergency planning and disaster preparedness in the face of inevitable tornadoes. Tornadoes are arguably the most destructive force in nature with winds that can approach 300 miles an hour. Most tornadoes are less than 100 miles an hour-a force which is still strong enough to do plenty of damage.
- You should know that tornadoes can happen at any time of the year. Tornado alley, that area from North Texas through Oklahoma, on into Kansas, is especially susceptible from late March to August. Warm and cool air masses mix to create an unstable weather system that spawns tornadoes.
- The highest activity in tornado alley is from April through June with May being especially active.
- A tornado can strike at any time of day with some of the deadliest occurring early in the morning.
- Tornadoes are difficult to see in the southeast according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration but in the Great Plains, in tornado alley, they are easy to see.
- Emergency planning and disaster preparedness demands that you have a tornado plan, especially if you are in areas that are prone to these natural disasters. That plan should include directions on where family members should go and where to get a helmet of some kind because head injuries are the most common cause of death in tornadoes. If you have a basement in your house, that is by far the best place to survive a tornado.
- If you don’t have a basement, get as low as you can in an area that puts as many walls between you and the oncoming storm as possible.
- Part of your disaster plan should include a survival kit which would include emergency food supplies, first aid kit, flashlight, identification and cash, a spare set of keys to vehicles and a battery-powered radio.
- A radio can keep you in tune with emergency notifications and updates on the tornado’s specific movements.
- If you are in the path of a tornado, one of the keys to survival for you and your family is to act quickly. That is where emergency preparedness and disaster planning come in handy. When a tornado strikes is not the time to start thinking about what to do; you need to act reflexively and quickly in order to survive.
- Do not open windows in your house; that acts to weaken the structural integrity of your home.
- And never try to out run a tornado in your car.
Follow these tips and do your disaster planning and emergency preparedness and you will be way ahead of the game.
This 135 piece emergency First Aid Kit is one of many we have to select from. It has everything you need to survive any emergency in the way of first aid supplies.
This 56 serving breakfast and entree Emergency Food Supply has a 25 year shelf life and can feed a family of four for a week.